Page 29 - Community Living Issue 31-3

how others see us: film and television

Harrop’s character of Ralph captured
how a small town deals with people who
are different, and he provided much of
the humour, particularly in the witty
exchanges he has with Maurice. In a
recent Radio Times interview, Christopher
Ecclestone praised Harrop’s performance:
“Leon has the ability and technical nous
and work ethic to carry a show. He has
what people in the comedic work call
funny bones. Leon technically
understands comedy in a way I don’t,” he
told the magazine.
In interviews about The A Word,
Ecclestone has consistently championed
the need for characters with learning
disabilities to be included in all future
writing and to encourage the visibility of
people with all disabilities on screen. He
has noted that the four main terrestrial TV
channels are under political pressure to
include storylines and set aside time for
A sensitive portrayal of reality programmes so people special needs see
themselves and their lives reflected in
drama. “I think writers are desperate to
Tracey harding enjoys a deftly written TV drama series that do it,” he told the Radio Times.
depicts life for those who are different in a small town and shining a light on care home abuse
finds subtle comedy and nuance in human interaction A writer who is determined to reflect the
lives of people with special needs and
disabilities on television is Timothy Prager,
The A Word. BBC1, series 2, episodes 1-16, He is now attending a specialist school whose long-running series Silent Witness
November/December 2017 which requires a 100 mile round trip every featured a story, One Day, about
Silent Witness. One Day. BBC 1, series 21, day to Manchester, which places a huge suspected abuse in a care home.
episode 7, January 2018 strain on his parents’ marriage. Silent Witness is based on the work of
This is where the writing is at its best, police pathologists. Since 2013, it has
t the end of last year, television highlighting issues that are a reality for featured the disabled actress and
provided a christmas treat that many parents and carers with children comedian Liz Carr, so the series is already
ashone among the stodge of with disabilities, and managing to refrain ahead of the game in terms of recognition
repeats and old films. from being schmaltzy or preachy. and inclusion of actors with disabilities.
The A Word (BBC1) returned for a second In this episode, the script centred
series, proving that the first series was not around a murder investigation which led
merely a flash in the pan. Many felt that “ Ralph captures how Nikki (Emilia Fox) and Jack (David Caves)
this series, unusually, surpassed the first. a small town deals with to a care home for people with learning
The A Word is a drama set in the disabilities.
beautiful surroundings of the Lake District people who are different, Any drama that highlights the possibility
which follows the lives of the Hughes and he provides much of of abuse in care homes needs to be
family, whose five-year-old son Joe has handled sensitively, and these episodes
autism. While the first series focused on the humour certainly did this, although I felt that there
the family’s struggle to come to terms ” were many parts of the story which for
with Joe’s diagnosis and what it would me didn’t ring true, particularly in the way
mean for his future, in the second, the In this series a romance between Joe’s that the police and care agencies were
focus shifted to the ripple effect it had on grandad Maurice (Christopher Ecclestone) portrayed. However, remembering that
the people around him. and local music teacher Louise (Pooky this was a drama, it was encouraging to
The drama is written by BAFTA award Quesnal) provides a resonance to Joe’s see so many actors with learning and
winner Peter Bowker, a former teacher story. Louise’s son Ralph (Leon Harrop), physical difficulties giving emotionally
who worked with children with learning who has Down’s syndrome, attempts to complex performances.
disabilities, and it gives an emotionally prove to his mother that he is responsible Prager should be applauded for shining
nuanced look at autism, being both quirky enough to hold down a job and be treated a light (albeit briefly), on the scandal of
and beautifully acted. Max Vento again like the adult he has become. abuse and neglect in care homes. He
gave a quietly intense performance as Joe. Harrop was excellent in the first series, and insists that every script he now writes will
In this series we get more of a feeling of has proved himself even more of a talent in include disability somewhere, and we can
how Joe’s family and their reactions to this one as he was given a strong storyline only hope that this baton is taken up by all
BBC him appear through his own eyes. which he has developed and grown into. writers of television drama. n

www.cl-initiatives.co.uk Community Living Vol 31 No 3 | Spring 2018 29